Business today demands a different kind of database solution. Performance, scalability, and reliability are essential, and time to market is critical. Beyond these core enterprise qualities, SQL Server provides agility to your data management and analysis, allowing your organization to adapt quickly and gracefully to derive competitive advantage in a fast-changing environment. From data management and analysis perspectives, it is critical to turn raw data into business intelligence and take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the Web. A complete database and data analysis package, SQL Server opens the door to the rapid development of a new generation of enterprise-class business applications that can give your company a critical competitive advantage.

Standard edition is an affordable option for small and medium-sized organizations. It includes the core functionality needed for non-mission-critical e-commerce, data warehousing, and line-of-business solutions.

Technical Specifications

Specifications are provided by the manufacturer. Refer to the manufacturer for an explanation
of the print speed and other ratings.

System Requirements

Platform:

Windows

Software

License Category:

License

License Qty:

1 server

License Type:

License & software assurance

Licensing Program:

Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA)

Service

Support Details Full Contract Period:

Full-term

Header

Brand:

Microsoft

Compatibility:

PC

Manufacturer:

Microsoft Next Gen Vol Lic

Model:

Server Standard Edition

Packaged Quantity:

1

Product Line:

Microsoft SQL

Service & Support Details

Service Type:

New releases update

Software Family

Microsoft Edition:

Standard

Microsoft Family:

MS SQL Server

Microsoft Version:

Non-Specific

General

Category:

Business applications

Installation Type:

Locally installed

Subcategory:

Business - databases / database tools

Licensing

License Pricing:

Volume

Service & Support

Type:

New releases update

Product Reviews

Rated 4 out of 5 by 10reviewers.

Rated 5 out of 5 by Tiago Macul Provides many ways to help us organize data and process information. Valuable Features:The Microsoft SQL Server is a great and powerful data storage capable to provide many functionalities starts on free version until the power with BI resource and mirroring.Improvements to My Organization:MS SQL is a recognized data tool, it provides many ways to help us organize data and process information.Room for Improvement:MS SQL need to improve the big data functions and also own market share.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. August 9, 2016

Rated 4 out of 5 by Prakash Somasundaran The MSBI features SSAS, SSIS as well as SSRS together, has enabled us to build a data warehouse for our Enterprise. Valuable Features:I would rate MS SQL Server 4/5 for its ease of administration,rich features, Nice GUI support for all its complex features.Valuable features include:1.Management Studio (Nice GUI support for all its complex features.)2.Hot add CPU3.Configure Dynamic memory also configure MIN and MAX memory.( Very flexible)4.Replication ( Very Simple).5.Clustering (The best high availability feature available among allits compitators due to its robustness and scalability).6.SSIS ( Very rich).7.In memory OLTP in SQL Server 20128.Always On (High Availability) in SQL Server 2012Improvements to My Organization:The MSBI features SSAS, SSIS as well as SSRS together has enabled us to build a data warehouse for our Enterprise with Business Intelligence reports around the data. We have fully exploited its all complex features like Slowly Changing Dimensions in SSIS etc.Room for Improvement:I am not sure if these areas have been taken care in SQL 2012 but areas for improvement include:1.In SQL 2008 ,Data encryption is not a fully mature feature.Encryption works fine for individual rows.For handling a batch a for loop has to be written.This is not straight forward.2.Horizontal partitioning is not a fully mature feature.In horizontal partitioning Partition key has to be part of primary key.This becomes difficult to implement in already existing database.Use of Solution:14 years.Deployment Issues:No not at all.Stability Issues:No.Scalability Issues:No.Customer Service:Good.Technical Support:Good. We have had only a few issues.Previous Solutions:We were a Microsoft shop (.NET, Share point etc) primarily, hence using MS SQL Server 2008.Initial Setup:It was straightforward.Implementation Team:We implemented through in-house.Other Advice:1. Find out the right licensing mode you require (Comes with different options CAL/Server and # of CPUs and Virtualisation).2. Use the Enterprise lincencing or Standard edition or Web according to your need.3.Make use of SQL Server Clustering or LOg Shipping high availability solution, the best you can find.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. July 31, 2016

Rated 4 out of 5 by Howard Fulks, MBA, CPA, CITP We're able to create an end-to-end automated BI platform, but we'd prefer hosting multidimensional OLAP instances with Tabular rather than the either/or installation. Valuable Features:* Business intelligence platform* Analysis services (multidimensional and tabular)* Relational database features* Data extraction and transformation (integration services)Improvements to My Organization:It provides the ability to create an end-to-end automated BI platform through data management and provisioning, transformation and publication.Data platform development process improvement: Integrating the features of Visual Studio Team Foundation Server data projects for SQL Server development. Allows for smooth operation between development environments in conjunction with an agile process to release database changes.Room for Improvement:Hosting multidimensional OLAP instances in conjunction with Tabular, rather than the either/or installation.OLAP multidimensional ongoing maintenance - automated partitioning or interface for streamlining the mechanism within the cube and data layers.Integration Services: There is a great deal of room for improvement here in that thepackages are the least extensible part of the platform. Even with the feature ofplatform variables, since these are not easily managed and deployed. Our testers have had a great deal of difficulty swapping environments, particularly where the connection information changes (underlying database name, for example). Changing servers with identical database names is less problematic.Use of Solution:I've used it since its release in 2012 until now.Deployment Issues:No issues encountered.Stability Issues:There were some avoidable issues, primarily due to a lack of scaling in our own design.Scalability Issues:There were some avoidable issues, primarily due to a lack of scaling in our own design.Customer Service:Online information for SQL Server is extensive.Technical Support:I did not have the need to contact technical support for any reason.Previous Solutions:No, I've only used an earlier version of SQL Server.Initial Setup:It's straightforward to install a new instance, but more complex if new features are added to an existing instance. Deployment of SQL code is efficient through Visual Studio database project development methodologies.Implementation Team:I have used both in-house, and vendor teams for implementation, both with very high levels of expertise into different aspects of database development.ROI:It's very high as the data platform is business-critical.Cost and Licensing Advice:I don’t concentrate on this issue, but rather the necessary features and the version required.Other Solutions Considered:No other oprions were evaluated.Other Advice:Make sure that you have an experienced database administrator to implement the infrastructure of the solution.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. June 20, 2016

Rated 4 out of 5 by Khilitchandra Prajapati The High Availability feature provides us with failover if a node becomes unavailable, but it lacks realtime data refresh in SSRS. Valuable Features:It's a solution that's always on.Improvements to My Organization:It has High Availability, therefore provides failover if a node becomes unavailable.Room for Improvement:* Few in SSIS* Realtime data refresh in SSRS* More datasources in Power BIDisclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. September 9, 2015

Rated 4 out of 5 by Jonathan Brotto With it, we've been able to tune individual queries by optimizing the database server, but the speed is inconsistent. Valuable Features:It allows for performance tuning to maximize performance. With the enhancements to the tuning wizard indexes are added to the needs of the system structure and use. I find this helps prevent locking of the system.Improvements to My Organization:It cuts down on the variable speed of queries, and individual queries can be tuned by optimizing the database server.Room for Improvement:The speed is inconsistent.Deployment Issues:N/AStability Issues:N/AScalability Issues:N/ACustomer Service:N/ATechnical Support:N/ADisclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. September 9, 2015

Rated 3 out of 5 by Jacy York Its use of hyper-threading causes stability issues, but the higher limits for storage and table management are valuable features. Valuable Features:* Reliability* Transaction management* Its higher limits for storage and table managementRoom for Improvement:Improvement to synchronous replication. Currently Microsoft's Always-On implementation of synchronous replication is not truly synchronous, as it counts the data to be written to the slave node, when it is written to the LDF file, not when it is committed to the actual database. This cause a problem when you are load balancing transactions across synchronous nodes.Use of Solution:I have been using it for over seven years, including 2008 (5/10) and 2012 (6/10) versions. We also have an early release of 2016 (8/10) which I have tested, but it's not in our production environment.Deployment Issues:We deploy multiples of these servers now and it is all managed via PowerShell scripts and templates. It does not play nicely with hyper-threading, so we disable this now by default.Stability Issues:If there is flapping of Always-On database node, SQL Server will break the replication to the child nodes, and it requires manual intervention to restart replication.Scalability Issues:Currently no as we use our own load balancer to enable us to scale to any level.Initial Setup:A strong knowledge of AD is a must as well as the ability to decipher MSFT blog posts.Implementation Team:We did it in-house.ROI:Depending on how the product is used, it will take about 12 months.Cost and Licensing Advice:Chose your database based on traffic type and desired functionality not on initial cost.Other Advice:Take a look at the environment you plan to implement including the application and traffic model. Consider using Azure DB depending on your implementation requirements.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. August 5, 2015

Rated 3 out of 5 by Freelancer720 Running long and complicated queries could make the software crash, but it allowed to me make all kinds of important reports easily. Valuable Features:The ability to browse table structures and re-design it easily.Improvements to My Organization:It improved the efficiency in giving service to clients, and allowed to me make all kinds of important reports easily.Room for Improvement:The compiler should be much more precise and give you more information about the error.Use of Solution:I've used it for two and a half years.Deployment Issues:No issues encountered.Stability Issues:Running long and complicated queries could make the software crash. You should run them part by part instead (i.e. with stored procedures).Scalability Issues:No issues encountered.Customer Service:I haven't had to contact them.Technical Support:They give quick, and helpful, responses. About 9/10.Previous Solutions:This was the solution I've used.Initial Setup:It's pretty straightforward, and usually everything goes smoothly. Everything was user-friendly and took me a minimum amount of time to understand how everything works.Implementation Team:We did it in-house.Cost and Licensing Advice:The price is pretty high, buy it's worth getting the license.Other Solutions Considered:No other options were evaluated.Other Advice:Personally, I love Microsoft products and I’m pleased with this one as well. I would advise you to get it.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. August 2, 2015

Rated 4 out of 5 by Satyabrat Nayak ?It has enhanced our real time decision making capabilities but SSRS could include some ad hoc reporting. Valuable Features:There are lots of features including the analysis, database, and reporting, services. We use it mainly for reporting and analysis purposes.The components I use are -* SSAS 8.5/10* SSIS 8/10* SSRS 7/10Improvements to My Organization:It has enhanced our real time decision making capabilities. It ensures we are up to date regarding our customers buying behaviour.Room for Improvement:* SSRS should have more capabilities in terms of more ad hoc reporting* SSAS multi-dimensional expression queries should be more simpleUse of Solution:I've been using it for the last five and a half years.Deployment Issues:With the latest version, it's very easy and intuitive.Stability Issues:We had a stability issue with the SSRS component when we deployed it into the production environment.Scalability Issues:Not much of an issue to date.Customer Service:9/10.Technical Support:9/10.Previous Solutions:We were using a solution from Informatica for ETL purpose, which was 8.5/10, but now we are doing it through SSIS, because it is easy to use and its cost.Initial Setup:The migration was, as always, a hard job, but we were able to migrate successfully.Implementation Team:We implemented it in-house.ROI:We are pleased with the level of our ROI.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. April 28, 2015